So I’ve been catching up with close friends the past few weeks and every single one of them has had a different adjective to describe this past year.
Hard, disappointing, lonely, weird, greatest.
Honestly, the whole idea of trying to judge how spectacular or depressing your life is based on a calendar year seems pretty futile, if you really think about it. Just because some dude named Julius Caesar (kidding, I know who he is, kinda) decided to introduce a 12-month solar calendar doesn’t mean we need to define our successes and failures based on that timeline.
It’s the long game guys, it has always been.
I was recently telling one of my homies (hi Sital) that it’s taken me a longer time to settle into this move (Dallas) versus any other moves. She simply responded, Ami, there is no timeline. Ever.
YES and YES.
So this year (or whatever calendar I want to follow, because I’m trying to be woke), I’m going to remove the idea of timelines, or the idea of running out of time, of comparing my timeline to any others. I realize more and more that our personal timelines are truly made for each of us to succeed, it’s just up to us to see it that way.
Also, I have two North Stars to guide me, so I know I’ll be ok.:)
Guys, I hit my first major milestone as a podcaster. The 100th.
And not just any 100th, I was blown away when I got the chance to interview someone I had been emailing the past 7 months, hoping he would eventually not think I was insane in the membrane and agree to talk to me (btw, he could not have been more generous, he is honestly a crazy busy man and just became CEO of….well, more info below).
“Who I am and what I do have been the same. That is why it's really, really worked."
I am SO excited and honored to have Rishi Malhotra help me close out this year and celebrate this milestone with me.
Rishi developed HBO's first Subscription Video On Demand platform, HBO On Demand, co-founded and led JioSaavn, one of the largest distributors of Bollywood and other Indian entertainment in the world, and also played an integral role in JioSaavn's transaction with Reliance Industries Limited, leading to a billion-dollar integration with JioMusic in 2018.
Currently, he is CEO of Luminary, audio home to Dave Chappelle and a collection of original shows from iconic talents such as Lena Dunham, Russell Brand, Konkona Sen Sharma, Masaba Gupta, Roxane Gay, Radio Rahim and so many more.
He talks to me about working with a once in a lifetime talent like Dave Chapelle, how everything really comes down to energy transfer, why JioSaavn became a culturally important legacy company, and the three 'E's" he abides by as a founder and CEO.
We discuss the recent launch of Luminary in India, his pinch me moment when his team brought U2 to India, why all immigrants are entrepreneurs, and the best concert he has ever attended (mine is still Erasure with big bro).
I’m about to head to Disney tomorrow with my fam/best friends fam, so I decided the best thing to do was stay awake, write this museletter, listen to music (the only way I can write) and watch the Vir Das Netflix special called Vir Das- Landing.
Now look, I really admire the guy. Truly, what a comedic genius. I mean, he even took a selfie with me after I forced him.
At a point during his special, he “asks” Indians that have immigrated abroad to “come home and witness modern India in all or our chaos but our infinitely larger beauty”, and also “your parents version of India does not exist, it’s archaic, it’s gone.”
Now look, I get that he’s a comedian, this is a stand-up, he has to get paid by Netflix, and Indian-Americans are paying for his meal here (kidding, kidding…kinda). But when he starts talking about our parents immigrant experience, all I want to say is, uh, I mean, really?
I swear, I’m not usually senti about comedians and honestly, thank god for them…but it’s also my dad’s 80th birthday, one of the epic immigrants that left India, came here with nothing (5-7 bucks of course) and built this entire, gorgeous life with our family, so I did feel a little sentimental this week.
So, here’s a glass raised…. to all of our parents that left their homes, with literally nothing, to come to the US to build an entire life on their own, without support. Like my mom and dad. Like yours.
And we are all Indians, there are just different definitions of it now. 25-year-old virgins and all.
Vir, your voice is hugely important for our people so keep placing Juhu sand on the stage (also please come on my podcast, Jai Shri Krishna).
But mainly, happy 80th to my dad. And THANK YOU for immigrating to the US and making our lives so epic. Your India may not be the same you left it, but you came to another country and became a part of history.
And that is what I call a Landing.
As always, I leave you with my song of the week, month, whatever. I heard this song again last week and it just hit me hard.
Look, all of us have everything that we really need, with us, right here, right now. Let’s stop thinking the grass is greener on the other side, or whatever that bullshit saying is.
We’re alive. We’re kicking. We’re on green grass. Let’s just dance on it until we can.
I’ll see you fools in 2023.
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